And on the flip side, you might be focused on running Facebook ads to target specific customers, looking closely at impressions, click-throughs and cost-per engagement.

There is no “right” or “wrong” answer here. As long as your campaigns have specific goals tied to them, you’re golden.

For the sake of keeping things simple, we’ve highlighted three broad types of social media goals to prioritize every time you publish a post. Running campaigns with these goals in mind make it easier to justify your social spending and determine whether or not your efforts are resulting in positive returns.

Goal #1: Awareness

Awareness-based posts serve as an introduction to your business and product for new followers.

The goal of such content is to grab the attention of customers, regardless of whether or not they’ve heard of you before.

At the awareness stage, we’re not too concerned with transaction-specific metrics. Instead, we’re focused on building buzz and encouraging conversations.

Although metrics such as impressions, followers and engagement right might be labeled as vanity metrics, seeing them tick upward is a positive sign toward raising brand awareness.

Here’s a solid awareness-based ad from MyMuscleChef, introducing followers to a slew of new meal offerings.

The purpose of this post isn’t to drive purchases directly, but rather to keep the brand’s audience in the loop. Seeking sales while raising awareness is totally fair game, granted you’re subtle about it.

Now, let’s say you’re focused on organic social media versus ads.

As noted, monitoring brand awareness and health mean paying attention to shout-outs, tags and shares from fans and followers.

Check out how The Horse encourages fans to publish photos of their latest purchases with the #arrivedfromthestables tag.

In turn, they promote and seek out customers to republish and shout-out themselves. These tags and mentions lead to meaningful interactions with customers.

These metrics aren’t the be-all, end-all of your social ROI but are key toward building an audience that’s ready to be sold to.

Goal #2: Consideration

Let’s talk about social content focused on followers that are ready to buy.

Whether they’re choosing between you and a competitor or they’re in the “just browsing” phase, these types of posts are tailor-made for your target audience.

Consideration-centric content includes a specific call-to-action. Whether that’s to check out a bio link or visit your website, such posts should tell your followers exactly what they want to do.

For example, Bellroy’s recent ad announcing their new iPhone cases invites followers to look at their products close-up and spend some time at their store.

Here’s another example from Sukin hyping up their latest release. Rather than asking for purchases directly, they encourage opt-ins to their email list.

The beauty of consideration-centric content is that it’s pretty straightforward to track. Metrics such as clicks, reach and click-through rate are simple enough to monitor through native social analytics on Facebook or Instagram.

Additionally, Google Analytics and URL trackers like Bitly can further clue you in on the behaviors of your potential buyers and what’s driving them to your site once they land.

Goal #3: Conversion

No secrets here: conversion-centric content is all about driving sales.

This is your opportunity to win (or win back) business directly from social media, specifically through ad-targeting.

And with ads, you don’t have to be shy about asking people to buy.

For example, Thomas Sabo’s Facebook campaign showcases a variety of products in their latest collection and invites customers to click-through directly to make a purchase.

Conversion goals are arguably the most important because they have a direct impact on your budget and bottom line.

As an added bonus, conversion-based campaigns are the easiest to track.

For example, you can assess conversion attribution via data in Google Analytics. If a social campaign resulted in a flood of clicks but few conversions, that’s all the more reason to reassess what’s going on on-site.

And by setting up a Facebook Pixel, you can re-target customers who are most likely to convert. This includes bounced traffic, former customers and anyone who’s interacted with your business before.

Even if a campaign is unsuccessful, businesses can assess ad performance and demographic data to fine-tune their campaigns in the future.

For example, you might discover that your ads were being served to the wrong audience (boomers instead of millennials) or that you were using outdated ad copy. These data points are invaluable in running optimized campaigns down the line and what it takes to see an ROI from social ads.

And with that, we wrap up our guide to social media goals!

Ready to Step Up Your Social Media Goal-Setting?

No matter what sort of campaign you might have in mind, don’t fly blindly without banging out your goals first.

Because publishing posts that speak to these specific goals ensures that you’re attracting customers across all stages of your social media marketing funnel.

And if nothing else, goals keep your social strategy realistic and avoid disappointment when a campaign doesn’t result in direct financial returns.

If you need help figuring out your social media marketing goals or what your overall social presence should look like, don’t hesitate to contact Hello Social today!